Ijichi drove the tourist bus back to Tokyo Jujutsu High School. The atmosphere inside the vehicle at this moment was extremely heavy.
Yuji Itadori felt confused, recalling the words that had inexplicably sounded in his ears just now. He couldn't calm down for a long time.
He had originally thought that these recent dreams were just side effects caused by negative emotional curses due to his poor control over cursed energy.
But now, it seemed they were something completely different. Was there something trying to remind him?
Was it a ghost? A captured sorcerer? Maybe it was his grandfather?
But as soon as he remembered the face he had seen for the first time, Yuji Itadori's Adam's apple bobbed heavily. He subconsciously swallowed his saliva. A thin layer of sweat instantly broke out on his back, and even his palms were damp and sticky. Cold sweat dripped down the back of his neck, and his entire body tensed up.
Kugisaki Nobara, sitting nearby, looked at his lifeless, pale appearance and couldn't help but frown, her face full of doubt. What's wrong with him all of a sudden? It can't be that bad, right?
"Hey! Itadori, what are you spacing out for? Are you scared of driving away a bear?" Kugisaki Nobara poked Itadori's arm, her voice carrying a hint of impatience and a trace of concern.
Hearing the commotion, Megumi Fushiguro slowly turned his head. At first glance, he saw Itadori sweating all over as if he had been pulled out of water. His brow furrowed involuntarily, his tone softened slightly, and he spoke with concern:
"Itadori, are you alright? Don't worry blindly. That old relic—the principal and the others will handle it."
As soon as he spoke, Megumi Fushiguro felt something was wrong, because Itadori and Kugisaki, sitting beside him, couldn't help but widen their eyes simultaneously, staring at him with incredulous looks. The corners of their lips twitched.
He was about to ask, "What's wrong with you?" when he suddenly got hit on the head.
"Ow!" Megumi Fushiguro grunted, covered his head, and looked forward. He saw Locke lying on a seat in the front row, looking at him playfully with clenched fists.
"Boy, finally dared to speak your mind?" The shadow clone raised his eyebrows, his voice full of mockery. "That old relic, huh?"
"Why did you hit me?!" Megumi Fushiguro frowned and retorted, his voice full of dissatisfaction. "You and that old relic are clearly not the same!"
"Hey——!"
Before the words landed, he was hit again. He clutched his shoulder in pain, now completely obedient, covering his head, crouching down, and baring his teeth.
Locke's shadow clone pulled back his fist and casually blew on the non-existent dust on his knuckles before slowly explaining:
"This punch was to help you avoid a pitfall, so you don't turn around and get eliminated by Nara. Although it means I'm not the same person as him, he sees all my memories. What you just said, he's already heard."
"Hahahaha! Megumi Fushiguro, have you been stupid lately?"
Kugisaki Nobara couldn't straighten her waist from laughing, leaving not a shred of mercy. Megumi Fushiguro's face turned red with anger.
The three second-years in the back seat whispered among themselves, as if discussing interesting gossip, their eyes full of excitement that couldn't be hidden.
The Kyoto school students frequently glanced sideways, their eyes either curious, wary, or distant, fixed on Locke, looking back and forth. The sounds of low murmurs came and went, one after another, but they were deliberately soft, as if speaking about something that couldn't be ignored.
Looking at the noisy scene before him, and then at Locke's extremely reassuring back, Yuji Itadori's heart, which had been hanging for a long time, finally settled back into his stomach.
Maybe I'm overthinking it. With Brother Locke here, how could anything possibly happen?
Itadori simply closed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. But when he suddenly opened them again, the entire bus was completely flooded with thick, indissoluble blood.
He turned his head in horror—
What caught his attention was Megumi Fushiguro, whose left arm was broken and bleeding profusely, and Kugisaki Nobara, whose upper body had almost disappeared, leaving only half. Both lay like torn rags, collapsed on the blood-soaked seats.
Looking back, Zen'in Maki's face was covered in horrific, torn scars, her breath fading. Panda's body was cracked and mutilated, his cursed energy lines completely dim. Dog's thorned hands were broken, and his head silently drooped.
The Kyoto Jujutsu High School students had even more casualties. The tragic scene was shocking. Everyone was like a worn-out marionette, frozen in their seats, without the slightest trace of life.
And his best friend, Aoi Todo—half of his cheek was torn off, his arms were missing, and his one remaining eye stared at Itadori with despair, unwillingness, and silent accusation. The gaze pierced his heart, as if roaring:
All of this... it's all your fault.
The hoarse breath was like a needle tempered in blood. The moment it pierced Itadori's heart, he froze and forgot to breathe.
Just as he hastily turned his head, a piercing chill ran down his entire body—
He saw a hunched figure before him. The hood was pulled down very low. His exposed cheeks were covered in deep, canyon-like lines. His skin was wrinkled and sagging. Even his brows and eyes had lost all youthfulness. It was an extremely old version of himself.
Those once bright, clear eyes were now as murky as a dry pool, but they firmly locked onto him, without a trace of warmth.
After a short pause, the old "Itadori" slowly opened his mouth. His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against wood, and every word was wrapped in bone-gnawing hatred and despair, striking Itadori's heart heavily:
"Yuji Itadori... I curse you."
In the next moment, the world spun. Dizziness suddenly overwhelmed Itadori. An abrupt cry of alarm exploded in his ears:
"Itadori!!"
The bloody illusion shattered. The moment his vision cleared again, Itadori came to—the hellish scene just now had been a piercing nightmare.
Kugisaki Nobara frowned. Her palm anxiously patted his face, full of fear. Megumi Fushiguro also leaned forward, slightly lifting his eyelids with his fingertips, carefully examining his pupils.
"What the hell were you doing? You scared us to death."
Itadori stood up in the aisle of the bus, embarrassed. His heart was still pounding wildly. He looked at everyone in shock.
As the concerned faces appeared in his field of vision, he saw that everyone was safe. The tragedy seemed to have never existed—just a nightmare.
Just as he was about to speak, the bus suddenly screeched with sharp brakes. The harsh sound of metal friction instantly cut off all noise.
"Mr. Ijichi, what the hell are you doing?!"
Faced with the repeated questions, Ijichi trembled. His fingertips shook as he raised them, pointing toward the front of the vehicle.
Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and they were all terrified. At some point, Locke had gotten off the bus in the middle of the road and was blocking the way.
They saw him holding, in his left hand, Mahito, whose entire body was covered in horrible stitches. Mahito's limbs were paralyzed. He couldn't even make a sound. His eyes were full of terror. In his right hand, he held a crimson, fleshy cube, its surface tightly packed with countless rolling eyes. A strange cursed energy captivated everyone.
Locke stared at the thing in his hand, his eyes lowered. His usual casual expression was gone, replaced by a terrifyingly dark face.
Without waiting for Locke to open his mouth to ask, Mahito, who was being carried, suddenly turned desperately, trembling, and raised his hand, pointing backward.
Locke sharply turned his head. His pupils trembled. He looked back in disbelief.
As far as the eye could see, there stood a person who should not have appeared here at all.
Demon Head Kijuro grinned. His smile was sinister and drawn-out. His voice hoarsely pierced the air:
"Long time no see, Nishida Kojūrō Kagetatsu."
In the next instant, the Prison Realm in Locke's hand burst open with a crash. A dark cursed energy swirled within it. Before he could take any further action, he was suddenly absorbed and completely sealed.
The people in the bus had a panoramic view of this scene. Everyone was horrified, even their breathing stopped.
At the same time, Yuji Itadori, standing in the crowd, only felt an intense pain, as if his head was about to be torn apart.
The images before him crossed and overlapped. Unfamiliar memories that did not belong to him at all rushed into his brain like a flood, like a madman.
And in his ears, the same sentence kept repeating:
"I curse you, Yuji Itadori."
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